Days of Advent
by lauraxamelia
Summary: A continuation of sorts from last year's Letter to Santa. 25 festive drabbles, all ships, all characters, lots and lots of festive silliness and fluff.
1. On the first Day of Advent

**AN: Here it is, chapter 1! I know, I know, I have a lot of catching up to do. But ah well. Let's get in the festive spirit, every one !**

Disclaimer: Sadly, Doctor Who doesn't belong to me. I have a suspicion that he belongs to one Santiago Clause. But there is no actual evidence yet... 

* * *

**On the First Day of Advent**

"Roseroseroseroserose-"

"Huhh?" Rose sat up too quickly, her head reeling. Time to establish some basic facts. Where was she? In her bed. So far, so good. What time was it? A quick glance at the alarm clock confirmed Rose's worst fears. Not even 6am yet. And why was her head so heavy? Rose looked down at her rumpled dress, still on. And the random splashes of something blue and toxic-but-delicious looking all over it. Ahhh. Of course. The Night Out. It had been planned for a while; just a chance for them to catch up, spend some just-them time together. And the night had gone on from there… Rose groaned and shut her eyes again, attempting to shut out some of the blinding sunlight. Somehow, though, the noise outside was still going on

"Roseroseroseroseroserose-"

"All right, all right, I'm up!" Rose yelled, suddenly panicked, running to the door. Something bad was going on. Aliens? Invasion? She didn't know about this. Why didn't she know about this? Someone should have told her earlier, someone should have made sure she was awake a long, long time ago, what the hell was going-

Rose stopped dead.

Outside her door, there were no panicky Torchwood operatives, no aliens ready to attack, nothing worth being woken up for at all.

"Oh no," she whispered menacingly, shaking her head from side to side. "Tell me you didn't."

The Doctor simply beamed at her, clutching Tony in his arms.

"We've been up for hours, haven't we, Tony?" He asked cheerfully. Tony nodded, in that deadly serious way that only four year olds can.

"Hours an' hours an' hours'. Doctor came an' waked me up. We had cocoa pops an' coffee an'-"

"What."

"Sugar san-wishes an'-"

"Whaaat."

"then we watched videos aaaaaaall day."

"Doctor," began Rose in an unearthly calm voice. "Put down the four year old. Now," she added. The Doctor, momentarily frightened into submission, did as he was told. Tony ran off, yelling at the top of his voice,

"Mumdadmumdadmumdad…" Rose couldn't help but smile sadistically at that. He was Jackie and Pete's problem now. The Doctor grinned back at her, hopefully, and she immediately reverted back to scowling.

"You. Inside," she ordered.

Inside her bedroom. Rose rounded on the Doctor.

"What the hell were you doing? Coffee? Sugar? Videos? Early mornings? Toddler? Any of these sounding a bit of a no-no to you, Doctor?"

"Um..."

"Don't you ummmm me, Doctor. Answer."

"Well, you see-"

"Why did you even wake him up in the first place?"

"But Roooose-"

"Don't 'But Roooose' me. Why. Did. You. Wake. Him. Up."

"But Rose, it's DECEMBER!"

"Oh for god's sake."Rose sank on the bed, too weary to even stand. "And?"

"Well, I woke up really really early, and I had my advent calendar chocolate, only then I got bored, and I had yours as well, sorry, and Tony's, and Jackie's, and Pete's, sorry, and then I was still bored, so I tiptoed into the nursery to get that jigsaw we started yesterday, only then I tripped over the castle, and it made a bit of a racket. And then Tony was, um, awake. But," the Doctor added helpfully, "I think he was nearly going to wake up anyway, you know. So then we were hungry, and I asked Tony what he wanted to have, and so we had that."

"And it didn't occur to you that early mornings are not a good time to give a toddler coffee."

"Um…no?" The Doctor looked at her apprehensively. Rose almost – OK, nearly – smiled. He was kind of adorable on a sugar high. The Doctor seized on her momentary weakness, and jumped up on the bed beside her.

"Sorry for waking you up, Rose," he whispered, putting an arm around her shoulder and making an honest effort to look grown up. Even though he was covered in glow-in-the-dark dinosaur stickers and had chocolate smeared on his left ear. "Should I let you get some more sleep."

"No, no," she sighed. "Too late for that." The Doctor grinned.

"Brilliant! Are you hungry? Thirsty? Need-the-toilety?"

"Doctor, you've been spending too much time with Tony."

"Right, yes. Sorry. So come on, give me some clues! What do you wanna do?"

"Well…" Rose smiled, snaking an arm around the Doctor's waist. He wasn't just a little bit adorable. He was kind of hot in an I-just-fell-out-of-bed-after-a-really-strange-costume-party kind of way. Actually, he was kind of hot in lots of ways. Actually, he was very hot in all ways. "We could go downstairs, make a nice, healthy brunch, take a family walk in the park-"

"Or…?" The Doctor had started smirking. Good. He'd caught on.

"Or we could stay here," Rose grinned mischievously. "Celebrate the start of Advent in style."

The Doctor smiled widely.

"I think I'd like that," he said, before softly pushing Rose back onto the bed and kissing her softly.

"Oh, and Doctor?"

"Hmmm?" His head was now at her neck, his lips whispering over her. Rose was already starting to lost track of proper thought. She deliberated  
quickly how best to formulate the next thing, then decided now was not the time for complicated phrasings.

"I've done it. I've stopped taking the Pill."

The Doctor's head shot up, his eyes full of light.

"You mean it?" He stammered hoarsely. "We can start trying?"

Rose smiled with him, pulling her Doctor down into a tight hug.

"Yeah."

* * *

**Awwww. Now wasn't that just a pile of lovely slushiness. I'm going to be jumping around with different characters and ships, remember, but expect a return to the adorableness that is 10.5/Rose and Tony eventually. **


	2. On the second Day of Advent

**AN: OK, so I kind of lied. I know, I know, I said I'd do everything in poems. But this is way more fun! There will be a couple of poems, but for now I'm changing up the styles a bit. Not just straight prose, either. This one's a letter, actually!**

**Disclaimer: Not. Mine. But I kind of wish Amelia was. Actually, I have a sneaky suspicion that she's my sister's best friend's little sister. But maybe not.**

* * *

**On the Second Day of Advent**

Dear Santa,

I'm really sorry if I woke you up in April. It's December now, so I hope you're up and about anyway

now. Thank you for sending me some help. The crack's all gone now, and the voices. Aunt Sharon

says she's glad I'm out of my phase, but would I please not go straight into another one. I think she

means my drawings. I've put one in for you, it's not very good but hopefully you'll recognise him.

I didn't know what to ask for this year. I don't really need any more toys, and anyway Rory's told me

that it's really our parents who get those kinds of presents. Or I guess Aunt Sharon gets mine. Well

that's why she wanted to read my letter I suppose. Don't worry, I'm not upset. I know you're there

anyway. I believe in you because you sent me the raggedy man, and he was better than the dolls and

the pencils. And anyway I don't mind if Aunt Sharon gets me presents, so long as it's not stupid

things.

But actually, Santa, there's someone who hasn't even got an Aunt. I know you know him, so could you please,

please make sure he gets something this Christmas? It doesn't even have to be anything big. Just

make sure he's not lonely. I'm sure Aunt Sharon won't mind if we have one

more person for Christmas Dinner, and anyway we have a lot of spare rooms he can pick from.

Love from

Amelia Pond

PS: But anyway I think Rory was lying. So if you DO still bring normal presents, please, then I'd like a puppy, a doll's house and The Worst Witch All At Sea. And a time machine. Thank you Santa! :-)

* * *

**AN: Poor little Amelia. The girl who waited. I'm tempted to come back to her, as well. If you have a craving to see a particular pairing or situation in a festive little vignette, do let me know. I'd love to hear some ideas!**


	3. On the third Day of Advent

**On the third Day of Advent**

**AN: So here's FINALLY an Eleven fic! I thought it might me fun to include the ramblings I bashed out while trying to think of what to write. Don't know if anyone else will find it amusing, but I do...**

**Disclaimer: Apart from the atrocious spellings in the italicised paragraph below, everything else belongs to TGM. **

* * *

_OK, this isn't really a chapter yet, is it. I want to see 11. And Rory. Mmm rory. Maybe at some point inbetween VoV and AC. They go to a Christmassy planet. Just earth? At Christmas? OK. What era? Victorians, duh. Although that's too close to TND and ACC. No. So. Just Christmas in the TARDIS then. Some undefined point in their travels. Just 11 Amy though. Cos I don't want Amy to be married yet. And rory would get angsty. Oooh yay UST. And maybe the Doctor just decides to Do Christmas sporadically at some point when he thinks it's been a long enough time since he last had one. Yeah OK. Go!_

* * *

"Oh, jingle bells, batman smells, robin flew away-"  
"Doctor," said Amy, striding into the TARDIS and looking around at the onslaught of tinsel and flashing Santa lights. "Why is it Christmas?"  
The Doctor looked up from where he had been happily tinkering at the Navigation Panel, wearing an absurd pair of antlers and humming merrily to himself.  
"Because I say it is!"  
"No, come on. Really."  
"Yes, really!"  
"Are you kidding? You decide it's Christmas and wham, let's crack out the turkey and trees?"  
"Yep. Gets a bit boring, just the same old kind of days over and over again. And of course we don't really follow a normal time stream, and it gets a bit tricky trying to keep up with a particular set of holidays. So I have a little calendar set up, here –" The Doctor pointed to a small screen hidden behind the typewriter – "That lets me know when it's been exactly 340 days since I last celebrated Christmas. Then I start doing Advent, y'see? That was two days ago, but it took me a while to get everything together. Look, I got you a calendar too!"  
Amy looked where he was pointing, and had to laugh. Attached by bits of string to the gramophone were 25 head-shaped baubles inscribed with _Have a Very Harry Christmas_.  
"What the hell are those?"  
"Honestly, don't you _read_?" snapped the Doctor in an impatient tone. Amy turned around, surprised.  
"Hey, what's got you all grumpy face?"  
To her relief and confusion, the Doctor was already chuckling to himself again.  
"Oh, never mind. But I think I've worked out what to get you for Christmas. Enhance your literary education a bit more."  
"Presents? We do presents too?"  
"Yeah, course." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "This isn't some tacky fake Christmas you know! Ok, maybe it is, but we do it for real, OK? In, er, 23 days' time we'll wake up, run down to the tree which I have yet to find, and unwrap all the presents. Satisfied?"  
"Very," giggled Amy. "I am liking this. Presents and mince pies for no reason? Works for me."  
"Right then!" The Doctor flicked a switch, filling the console room with the sound of Merry Christmas Everybody. "Let's dance!"  
"What?"  
"Let's dance! We're having The Office Party today, right? So everyone dances badly and gets just a little bit too drunk."  
"Utterly embarrassing-in-hindsight snogging included?"  
"Amy…"

* * *

**AN: Hehehehehe gratuitous HP references for the win. **

**EDIT: Review reply for the anomynous Gallifreyan Girl: 10/Romana, eh? Hmmmmmm *stokes goatee* I'll think about it. Either I explain it, or I just majke the premise that they met. or - oooooh! plot bunny alert plot bunny alert plot bunny alert! With the - and the - yeaah. That could work xD Thank you so much for being my first reviewer GG x**


	4. On the fourth Day of Advent

**On the Fourth Day of Advent**

**AN: This turned out A LOT differently than I planned. For one thing, the link to Christmassy stuff is kind of tenuous. For another, it's a bit darker and angstier than I thought it would. But hey, at least it adds variety! Kudos to anyone who works out the big reveal before the big reveal. And yes, this IS my theory. And I'm sticking to it.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own. But to be fair neither does TGM. This is pure RTD property, and as it's not really his anymore, would I be allowed to call finders keepers? Pretty please?**

* * *

He staggers back into the TARDIS, wincing. The pain is less easy to avoid now, but he has so many more goodbyes to make…some, he'll never be able to.

Rose, lost and found in a parallel world with a life of her own that should never be disrupted by him again. Those he desperately wanted a chance to say sorry to – Astrid. Harriet. Jenny.

And not only Jenny, but the rest of his family…the ones he barely lets himself think about, the ones now lost. Susan and the people he had slowly trained himself to consider as Susan's Mother, Susan's Uncles, Susan's Grandmother… Lost, forever.

It was all so long ago now that he was almost able to ignore the hole where they should have been.

But oh, he had been _so_tempted today. Gallifrey returning, the Time Lords reborn, his family resurrected.

Of course he hadn't acted on it. Of course he had done the right thing, condemning his people to death all over again.

After all, she had been there to make sure he did what was right. At least he had been granted that one impossible goodbye, just that one look passing between the two of them as worlds ended and the world he had been mourning for fell once more.

Wracked with a combination of pain and exhaustion and grief, the Doctor collapsed momentarily on the Console Room floor. She had just been _there_, he could have saved her at least, he should have at least tried.

A slow montage flashed through his mind – him running across the Gate room and into the gathering Void, grabbing her hand, the two of them running far, far away, where the Time Lock wouldn't be able to pull her back.

Of course, even in this state the Doctor knew that she would never have escaped. He doubted she would have even come with him; it was far more likely that she would choose to stay and help her people.

For the first time in his long, gruelling line of goodbyes, the Doctor allowed himself to weep.

A flash of heat in his jacket pocket. The unmistakable sound of a message arriving in the Psychic Paper. He unfolded the black paper, fingers trembling. Writing hurried across the paper, lines and lines of it, all in a small, precise scrawl that he had never thought he'd see again

_Oh for god's sake stop crying. It's Christmas and you've got a regeneration to be getting on with._

_Don't worry about me, I've known for a long time now how my story will end. You go and start your next chapter._

_I had a peek, and believe me; it's going to be amazing. The new girl? Almost as pretty as me. And possibly even as smart. _

_Now go! I know what you'll have done. You've been saying goodbye, haven't you? Yeah, you always tended to err on the soppy side. But maybe by now you want to give up. _

_You'll never be allowed to say goodbye to some of us. And you know what? That's fine._

_After all._

_We'll always have Paris_

For a long time after that last line had faded away, the Doctor didn't move. His mind, though, was racing. If she could still send a message, could he-? Were they all still somewhere in between, somewhere he could-?

No. No more. That part of his time was over, once and for all. She had somehow, miraculously, managed to give him this last gift, but underneath the pep talk and cheerful goodbye, there was another message for him: a warning. _Don't even think about trying anything stupid._ And of course she was right. Although it still irked him to admit it, even to himself, she was usually right.

"Enough. Enough now," he whispered, slowly sitting up. There was, of course, no way he would ever be able to actually speak to her again. But still, he needed to say something. "Happy Christmas to you too,Romana."

The Doctor started setting the TARDIS on route for Chiswick. There was time for just a few more goodbyes.

* * *

**AN: Yes, this is my theory. I don't care what Russel T Davies says. The Woman IS Romana, demoted from Presidency and put into her place of shame by a power hungry Rassilon when she tried to stop all these evil master plan things happening. And the guy? Hmm. Adric, of course. Or the Rani after a sex change. JOKE! SARCASM HAND! But seriously, the Woman is definitely Romana. **

**Thanks to Gallifreyan Girl for this request! And, everyone else, feel free to add prompts. Can be as unspecific as asimple word, or a pairing you'd like to see. Can be as specific as the whole plot, if you have an idea you'd want me to write. Up to you!**


	5. On the fifth Day of Advent

AN: My first foray into proper noncanon 10Rose. Although in my head, it is canon. Kind of. Nearly. Oh, you'll see what I mean. For those of you not so geeked up on reruns and DVDs, this comes near the end of The Christmas Invasion.

**Disclaimer: No, not mine.**

* * *

**On the Fifth Day of Advent**

Somewhere amid the crackers, the turkey, the TV blaring out Christmas specials and Jackie getting ever tipsier, the Doctor managed to slip out on to the balcony. Rose watched him go, and immediately fear rushed through her. Was he going? Going for good? He was a new person, after all, maybe he wanted to be left alone, and maybe he wanted to leave. And she would have to let him.

"Go."

Rose turned around, startled. Mickey was looking at her, a sad smile in his eyes.

"What?" she asked, feigning confusion.

"Go after him. Jackie won't mind, so long as you don't _go_ go without saying bye."

"But-"

"Rose, c'mon, be honest just for one second. Do you really think he'd just leave?"

"But-"

"He needs you, Rose. Just go, it'll be fine."

Rose bit her lip, torn for a moment between the sudden need to run after the Doctor, and the ever-weakening sense of duty that was compelling her to stay with her mum for Christmas and stay with Mickey for good. Mickey, sensing her dilemma, leaned over until their faces were almost too close.

"Rose," he said, looking right at her. Somehow Rose found it hard to meet his eyes. Mickey hesitated, and then dropped a swift kiss on her lips. "Honest. Go after him. He needs you."

Rose shut her eyes, unable to speak, and nodded briefly. She waited for Jackie to be out of sight, and then quickly made a dash for the corridor. Turning at the door, she caught a glimpse of Mickey sitting at the table, alone. Rose felt sure that he thought she wasn't watching, otherwise he would never have let his cheerful face slip off so easily.

"Sorry, Mickey," she murmured inaudibly, before slipping out on to the stairwell and shutting the door softly behind her

_-x-_

"Doctor?" Rose walked carefully towards where he was sitting on a lonely bench, her feet softly crunching and slipping on the not-really-snow. The Doctor looked up, a slow smile spreading across his face. He quickly scooted over and let Rose sit down next to him, the two of them sinking into a companionable silence. It was cold out, and dark; that was, Rose told herself, the only reason his arm snaked around her, the only reason why her head had somehow managed to lull into his shoulder.

It was minutes – hours – days – before either of them made any noise at all. Finally, the Doctor cleared his throat; Rose looked at him enquiringly. He looked, abashed, and she couldn't help but smile.

"So why'd you come out here, then?" she asked, when the silence had become not so much companionable as oppressive.

"Just needed to clear my head a bit, suppose," he shrugged. "You know, time to think. Why, what about you?"

"Me? I came outside to find you, of course," Rose replied simply.

"Yeah," the Doctor whispered, his mouth pressed up against her hair. "Of course Rose Tyler came to find me."

Rose shuffled round ever-so-slightly, staring up at him.

"If you want me to, I always will."

"Rose," he said, and now Rose couldn't stop herself from remembering the very similar situation just a few minutes ago. "I'll always want you for as long as you want to stay. "

Suddenly, everything seemed so simple. This wasn't wrong, their lips finding each other. There was nothing to consider as his hands rested on her hair and back. In fact, this was quite possibly the easiest choice had ever made. This would always have happened.

If kissing the Doctor was the easiest choice she had ever made, then pulling away was the hardest. His eyes followed her, hurt, and an unsaid question hung in the air.

"Doctor, I… I don't know why I just did that."

"No, it's – I mean I – look, it's fine."

"I can't…I guess I want to, you _know_ I want to, but…"

"But," he sighed. "I know."

"It's just…you're still not sure who you are right now, and this could get so confusing, I'm a bit drunk, and then there's Mum, and – and Mickey, and we never even – I mean…Oh, I don't know what I mean."

"I do," he answered, smiling softly. "Look, Rose, you don't need to explain yourself. You're right, of course, you're absolutely right. We shouldn't just… Go there."

"Right," Rose said. She looked away. For a couple of seconds, she had been so sure that this was the right thing to do, the way that would hurt the least. Now she wasn't so sure. "Look, Doctor, let's just… Not talk about it. Not yet. We will, yeah? When we've both worked out who you are."

"Oh, absolutely," the Doctor agreed, nodding for emphasis. "Let's talk about it in a while. Now, come on!" He jumped up, pulling Rose to her feet. His smile was buoyant and infectious once more. "Shall we persuade Jackie to crack out the pudding?"

Rose nodded, laughing, and the two of them hurried back inside through the softly falling ash.

* * *

**AN: Hmmmm. What do you think? Canon-compatible or not? Also, I wonder if the ending is clear enough. What I wanted the implication to be was that, once they got caught up in the adventures and stuff, they kind of ignored this moment, and put off The Talk again and again. And then Doomsday happened, and they never ever had the chance :'( Sniff. Now I'm sad.**


End file.
